Earnings Season – Monday Morning Market Memo – October 15, 2018

Good morning,

The stock market took a hit last week as trade tensions and rising interest rates sent equities tumbling. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.2%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 4.1%and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 3.7%. The NASDAQ actually hit correction territory at one point last week (a drop of 10% or more from its high). So, we look forward to some different headlines as earnings season gets rolling in earnest this week, with 54 S&P 500 companies expected to report results.

Companies scheduled to report this week include heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs Group, International Business Machines, Johnson & Johnson, Intuitive Surgical, American Express, Phillip Morris International, Procter & Gamble, and Honeywell.

For the quarter as a whole, the market has high expectations. Quarterly earnings for the third quarter of 2018 are expected to increase 21.5% according to I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv. Strong earnings are certainly good for the market, but with high expectations it can sometimes be hard to impress. So it is going to be an interesting earnings season, and forward guidance from companies will be especially important.

As always, contact us with any questions you may have or if you would like to set up a meeting with us.

All the best,
Southport Station Financial!